ASSESSING AND IMPROVING PROTECTED AREA GOVERNANCE

What is protected area governance?

Protected area governance has emerged as a key theme in biodiversity conservation in general, and protected area management in particular (Lockwood, 2007; Borrini-Feyerabend et al., 2007).  Although there are many different definitions of protected area governance, there are five commonly agreed-upon elements (Borrini-Feyerabend et al., 2007, Graham et al., 2003; Pansky et al., 2005):

• Legitimacy and voice in protected area management, particularly the level of participation and the degree of consensus in decision making;
• Accountability of the protected area management to local communities, the public and other key stakeholders, including transparency of decision making;
• Performance  of protected area management, including responsiveness, efficiency, effectiveness and efficacy;
• Fairness in decision making, including equitable benefits sharing among key stakeholders, and application of the rule of law;
• Leadership of protected area policy makers, including strategic vision and clear direction based on the ecological, historical and socio-cultural complexities of protected areas.

In addition, there are also four agreed-upon types of protected area governance (Borrini-Feyerabend et al., 2007):

• government-managed protected areas, including federal, local and government-delegated management;
• cooperatively managed protected areas, including trans-boundary management, collaborative management with multiple parties;
• private protected areas, including those run by individuals, corporations and non-profits; and
• community protected areas, including those declared and run by indigenous groups and local communities. 

Combining these four types of governance with the six IUCN categories of protected areas yields 24 different types and many more subtypes, of protected area governance (Borrini-Feyerabend, 2007).  Each of these has different strengths and weaknesses, but all have a place in a diverse protected area system.  Protected area governance is therefore defined as the degree to which protected area decision-making practices and structures follow fair, equitable and ethical principles across an array of different protected area management types and categories.

What are emerging lessons in protected area governance?

There are several emerging lessons in protected area governance (Graham et al., 2003; Pansky, 2005), including:

• No single governance structure will be sufficient for meeting the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity – a plurality of governance structures will likely be needed.
• A diverse set of different governance types across the protected area systems can fill ecological gaps, address complex issues such as landscape connectivity, and encourage higher levels of societal engagement in protected area management.
• Traditional knowledge and practices are increasingly vulnerable to international management paradigms, and should be safeguarded through governance agreements.
• Cooperation across different governance types will be increasingly important to address large-scale conservation issues, but such models are scarce and can be fraught with political challenges.
• Although it is easy to identify broad principles of good governance, local application requires sensitivity and flexibility.
• Rapid global changes in technology (e.g., remote sensing), and in concepts of social participation in governmental processes, are driving rapid changes in governance toward devolution, greater accountability, and consensus decision-making models.
• Effective and equitable sharing of benefits is likely to be the most politically challenging aspect of protected area governance, especially where there are multiple stakeholder groups with complex tenure and use rights.
• Good governance alone is an insufficient precondition of effective management; adequate resources and a supportive policy environment are equally important.
• Good governance requires clear legal and operational frameworks, including a delineation of stakeholders’ rights and responsibilities, and a recognition of community and indigenous tenure and use rights.

References and resources on protected area governance